Frustrated Lake Wales Residents Want Parking on Wiltshire Avenue

Residents of Dr. J.A. Wiltshire Avenue used to be able to park on at least one side of the street. Now they can't park on the street at all, and they want city commissioners to do something about it.

By PHIL ATTINGERLEDGER MEDIA GROUP

LAKE WALES | Residents of Dr. J.A. Wiltshire Avenue used to be able to park on at least one side of the street.Now they can't park on the street at all, and they want city commissioners to do something about it.The issue was brought to the Lake Wales City Commission at the beginning of January when resident Greg Massey, who owns Massey's Place — a bar on nearby Lincoln Avenue — said residents can't park in front of their homes.The street, which is only wide enough for two cars to pass, has yellow curbs and "no parking" signs on both sides."We just want to know where we're going to park," said Pamela McClain, a Wiltshire Avenue resident. "My car is already in my yard."She said her two grown children, two grandchildren and four sisters often drop by — sometimes four cars at one time — and she doesn't have a place for them to park."Will the yellow lines mean they'll get a ticket, because I have a huge family," McClain said.Beverly Pennington, the city's operations manager, said the city put in overflow parking spaces on A Street to help deal with the problem.Massey said those overflow spaces — at Stuart Park on the corner of Wiltshire Avenue and A Street — mean people will have to walk to their homes if they don't have good driveways.Public Services Administrator Teresa Allen said there always have been parking problems in that area.When the city first put up signs, they were taken down, she said. The city put the signs back up because when people park on the street, it becomes congested.David Smith, president of the Lake Wales Branch of the NAACP, said he and former City Manager Tony Otte had signs put up because school buses couldn't make it through with cars parked in the street.Lake Wales' city code, Section 20-14, states that it's illegal to park a car or any other vehicle on a residential street where it will obstruct traffic.The law says "all public streets," not just Wiltshire Avenue, Massey said."If you're going to enforce this, (you) need to enforce it on all the streets in Lake Wales," he said.Police Chief Christopher Velasquez said the stretch of Wiltshire Avenue east from North Walker Street is dangerous, especially around A, B and C Streets.He described it like the video game "Frogger," where a frog is trying to hop safely across traffic, only on Wiltshire Avenue it's children trying to cross safely with parked cars obscuring them from drivers.Commissioner Terrye Howell said she has seen people stopping their cars and talking to people in other cars or pedestrians, obstructing cars behind them.There should be no parking when it's a safety hazard, she said, especially since the street — which dates back to the city's founding — never was wide enough to handle modern cars.However, Massey said that without cars parked on Wiltshire Avenue, drivers have felt free to speed down the street, creating another safety hazard.McClain suggested using speed bumps or speed tables to slow down traffic.Howell said she would like to see adults correct their own behavior without having to be ticketed.In the meantime, she asked Velasquez if police could hold off on writing tickets until city and community leaders can find a solution.He pledged to do anything he can to work with the community to find an answer, but wouldn't tell his officers not to write tickets."We will use discretion, but we've got to keep that road open," he said. "It's a busy road."

Phil Attinger covers the Babson Park, Dundee, Frostproof and Lake Wales areas and may be reached at 863-401-6981 or phil.attinger@newschief.com.